Cornea Transplant - Scheduled for Feb.

Good Evening Everyone,

I had an eye doctor appointment on Monday of this week.  Things are good.  My left eye (the good one) is doing fine.  No major problems seen.  As for the right eye, no change.  But as they say, no news is good news.  Anyways, a little back ground information...

Back in July of 2010, a few days before my birthday, I started to notice a little blurriness in my right eye.  Being at the time I had recently had my toes amputated (a story for another day) and my immune system was already low.  By the next morning I had lost most of the site in the eye and if you looked closely you could see a small mark on the center of my pupil.  Needless to say I tried to make a doctors appointment that day but when dealing with Optometrist appointments, you usually have to wait at a month for an appointment.  Within the next 2 days my eye turned completely red and my sight was completely gone.

Panicked, I went to the E.R. and from there they sent me to Optometry that same day.  Turns out I had developed a cyst that had become extremely infected, to the extent that the doctor was concerned that the infection could get into my blood system and go to my brain.  Yeah, fun news.

For the next 3 months I had to put 5 different eye drops in every 2 hours as well as an ointment at night before bed.  I can honestly say that is as close to hell as I would like to ever get to and I don't want to go back there again.  The drops were made specifically for me, extra strong, and hurt every time I had to put them in.  And that brings me to today...

I've been debating on having the cornea transplant for various reasons:

• I've grown used to the one eye thing and the eye patch
• Being on dialysis means my immune system is still low and infection after the surgery is a real risk
• The recovery time is 12 - 18 months and the chance of gaining my full vision back is very low
• The patch gives me personality HaH!

So why have I decided to have the transplant?  Simply put, I'm feeling like a hypocrite for not having it.

I've said from day one of my Kidney Failure that I would not give up hope of getting back to my old self.  Even if God did find it fit to supply me with a spare eye, accepting the bad eye when there are things I can do to correct it feels very much like giving up.

The best advice I can give to others in my position or any other life changing condition is this,
              Always have something to look forward to


Up until now those things have been Concerts and Comedy Shows...  Now it is my Cornea Transplant set for Feb. 2012.  Gaining even some of my sight back is something worth looking forward to.

-Lou